Small Wind Turbines for Home

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Generate electricity at home with small-scale windturbines. Wind turbines harness the power of the wind and use it to generateelectricity. Forty percent of all the wind energy in Europe blows over the UK, making it an ideal country for domestic turbines (known as 'micro-wind' or 'small-wind' turbines). A typical system in an exposed site could easily generate more power than your lights and electrical appliances use.

 Wind Turbine 500 Watt

The benefits of wind turbines

Cut your electricity bills:

Wind is free, so once you've paid for the initial installation your electricity costs will be reduced. 

Get paid for what you generate:

Through Feed-in-Tariffs, you get paid for the electricity you generate even if you use it. What you don't use, you can export to the local grid - and get paid for that too.

Cut your carbon footprint:

Wind electricity is green,renewable energy and doesn't release any harmful carbon dioxide or other pollutants.

Store electricity for a calm day:

If your home isn't connected to the national grid you can store excess electricity in batteries and use it when there is no wind.

Costs, savings and earnings;

Costs:

The cost of a system will depend on the size and the mounting method: building-mounted turbines cost less to install than pole-mounted ones. For equipment and installation, with VAT at 5%:

1.     Roof-mounted 1 kW micro-wind system costs around £2,000
2.     2.5 kW pole-mounted system costs around £15,000
3.     6 kW pole-mounted system costs around £22,500. 

Wind Turbine 1 kW

Maintenance:

Maintenance checks are necessary every few years, and will generally cost around £100 to £200 per year depending on turbine size. A well-maintained turbine should last more than 20 years, but you may need to replace the inverter at some stage during this time, at a cost of £1,000 to £2,000 for a large system.

For off-grid systems, batteries will also need replacing, typically every six to ten years. The cost of replacing batteries varies depending on the design and scale of the system. Any back-up generator will also have its own fuel and maintenance costs.

Savings:

Building-mounted turbines tend to produce less electricity per kW than pole-mounted ones. A well-sited 6 kW turbine can generate around 10,000 kWh and the equivalent of around 5.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

NOTE: If you want to build your own small home turbine also see http://easywindenergy.blogspot.de/2013/02/homemade-1-kw-wind-turbine.html

How do wind turbines work?

Wind turbines use large blades to catch the wind. When the wind blows, the blades are forced round, driving a turbine which generates electricity. The stronger the wind, the more electricity produced.

There are two types of domestic-sized wind turbine:

Pole mounted: These are free standing and are erected in a suitably exposed position, often around 5 kW to 6 kW.

Building mounted: these are smaller than mast mounted systems and can be installed on the roof of a home where there is a suitable wind resource. Often these are around 1 kW to 2 kW in size.

Wind turbines are eligible for the EU countries Feed-in-Tariffs which means you can earn money from the electricity generated by your turbine. You can also receive payments for the electricity you don't use and export to the local grid. To be eligible, the installer and wind turbine product must be certified under the Micro-generation Certification Scheme (MCS). If your turbine is not connected to the local electricity grid (known as off grid), unused electricity can be stored in a battery for use when there is no wind. Please note that the Feed-in Tariffs scheme is not available in Northern Ireland.

This video focuses on two electricity-generating technologies for the home: wind turbine and solar electricity.